House of Commons Hansard #363 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was north.
Mark Holland Liberal Ajax, ON
Mr. Speaker, I think if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the result of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting for.
Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Hope, BC
Mr. Speaker, we agree to apply the vote, with Conservative members voting no.
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC
Mr. Speaker, the NDP agrees to apply the vote and will vote no.
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will be voting yes.
Maxime Bernier Independent Beauce, QC
Mr. Speaker, the People's Party agrees to apply the vote and will vote no.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Green Party agrees to apply the vote and will be voting yes.
(The House divided on clauses 535 to 625, which were agreed to on the following division:)
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
I declare these clauses carried.
The next question is on the remaining elements of the bill.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the remaining elements of the bill?
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
All those in favour of the remaining elements of the bill will please say yea.
(The House divided on the remaining elements, which were agreed to on the following division:)
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
I declare the remaining elements of the bill carried.
The House has agreed to the entirety of Bill C-86, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 27, 2018 and other measures at third reading stage.
(Bill read the third time and passed)
A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, I imagine that you are not surprised to see me using the adjournment debate to try to get an answer to a question I have been asking for many moons. In fact, it has been longer than that because we can now count how long I have waited in years. Moreover, I am not the only one waiting. I keep coming back to this because not only does everyone in Trois-Rivières agree on this, but everyone in the Quebec-Windsor corridor is waiting for a response from the Minister of Transport. After spending $11 million on studies, the minister is still unable to tell us anything about the government's plans or directions.
To illustrate, last month, at special meetings held by the UMQ in Trois-Rivières with a special committee of elected members committed to determining how we might develop rail transportation in Quebec and Canada in the years to come, the invited guest was the Minister of Transport. We were obviously pleased that he was there, since we took his presence to mean that we would finally find out his vision for developing passenger rail service in Quebec and Canada.
No such luck. During his speech, the minister told us yet again about how important safety is to him. Far be it for me to diminish the importance of transportation safety in any way, but the question remains: How is it that after all this time the minister is still unable to give us at least a hint about his plans for the VIA Rail high-frequency train project?
The UMQ president expressed this hope, which I will now reformulate as a question: If nothing else, will the Minister of Transport tell us whether his development vision includes a high-frequency train along a corridor dedicated solely to passenger transportation?
As a supplementary question, the UMQ and I would also like to know if the current government will actually fund a high-frequency VIA Rail train, or if this will merely be an election promise that would end up putting off indefinitely this long-awaited project, despite the community's unanimous support.
I am using this adjournment debate to try to get an answer because, the last time I asked the question, the government once again changed the subject and talked about VIA Rail's fleet renewal. Obviously, we applaud that initiative, even though we have serious concerns about the fact that the government is giving VIA Rail $1 billion as part of that renewal without including a clause that would guarantee jobs for workers here, which would have made it possible to build on and maintain our existing expertise.
My question is this: is there an interest in passenger rail? Is there an interest in VIA Rail's project? Will the government soon make a funding announcement or will we once again have to wait for an election campaign announcement?
Rail TransportationAdjournment Proceedings
Karen McCrimmon Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Trois-Rivières for his question because it give me an opportunity to tell him about the importance of our government's long-term vision for rail transportation across the country.
Our government is exploring the best way to achieve a transportation system that is not only responsive in meeting the needs of our society and economy, but also fluid in its operations and organic in its connections to Canada.
To this end, the government secured important funding in budgets 2016 and 2018 to support an in-depth assessment of VIA Rail's high frequency rail proposal. These funds will help us to better understand not only the viability of the project, but also its potential to support our government's vision for the future.
The proposal for dedicated tracks has the potential to provide Canadian travellers with reliable and more rapid service by allowing VIA to set schedules and frequencies to satisfy the demand for passenger rail service. By reinvigorating its services in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, VIA's proposal also aims to reduce its overall funding requirements from Canadian taxpayers. There is real potential here, but an investment of this magnitude requires careful study.
Just as the people of Trois-Rivières have expressed an interest in VIA's high frequency rail proposal, so have many other Canadians along the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. Our government shares this interest, given the potential benefits of this project. We will do our part by working collaboratively with key players to ensure that the best information is available to allow for sound investment decisions on VIA's proposal. Our government will carefully consider the high frequency rail proposal as part of determining the best approach to delivering a safe, efficient and reliable passenger service for Canadians.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her answer.
I do think there is an interest. At least we are both interested in the basic issue of developing rail transportation across Canada. Today we are talking about the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, but it could be about other routes as well.
Obviously, I did not get much of an answer to my question, but one element of my colleague's interesting statement caught my attention. She said her government will be studying long-term development.
My question is very straightforward. When the Liberals and the government talk about the long term, how many years do they mean? I have been raising this issue in the House since 2011, and soon it will be 2019. It seems to me that the long term is already here. It is high time for an announcement, rather than a vague mention of broad principles.
Rail TransportationAdjournment Proceedings
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. colleague for his interest in this and for his advocacy. It is important. I know he cares very deeply for his community.
We understand that passenger rail service is a very important part of Canada's transportation system. It is very important to Canadians coast to coast to coast. We recognize this. We are taking the time necessary to determine the best approach to improving service in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor.
Canadians want passenger rail service that is not only safe, efficient and reliable, but one that is greener, more integrated and seamless with other modes of transportation and more affordable. We want to take the time to do our due diligence to ensure the viability of VIA Rail's high frequency rail proposal.
Sheri Benson NDP Saskatoon West, SK
Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the opportunity to ask the Minister of Transport directly about the withdrawal of Greyhound from western Canada. The minister made time to appear before the transport committee, and I was grateful to have had the chance to tell him in person about how serious the lack of safe, affordable transportation is in Saskatchewan.
While the minister was gracious in giving his time to the members at the transport committee, unfortunately, many questions still remain, including my question in the House of last September directed to the lone Saskatchewan minister.
Since the shutdown of the STC, many women fleeing domestic violence have had to hitchhike or turn to Kijiji to get a ride to a shelter. It is unconscionable for a feminist government to know this and do nothing.
Last January, the Minister of Innovation told the House that his government would work with me to look for meaningful solutions to this crisis. To this day, I have heard absolutely nothing.
I suggested I ask the lone Saskatchewan minister this time what he would do to ensure people in Saskatchewan have safe, reliable public transportation. The answer I received that day was from the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, who said that his government would always be there for the people of Saskatchewan, and that there would be good news coming. He also said that I could come and see him or the Minister of Public Safety and his colleagues.
I have reached out to that minister, as well as the lone minister from Saskatchewan, to no avail, To date, I have not heard anything back from either minister, which leads me to believe that the government is very good at talking a good line, but when it comes to delivering on solutions, not so much. Take, for example, the recent announcement in response to Greyhound's withdrawal. For a full year after the cancellation of the STC, the government did nothing. It took the withdrawal of a private company for it to actually take notice of the growing transportation crisis in western Canada.
Fortunately for British Columbia and Alberta, those provinces have progressive NDP governments, which have already stepped up to mitigate the serious gaps in public transportation in their respective provinces.
Unfortunately for my province, Saskatchewan's provincial government decided to shut down the STC. The silence from the Saskatchewan Conservative MPs on this issue is deafening. It is unfortunate that when it comes to standing up for safe, affordable transportation, it appears politics trumps the needs of communities and constituents.
Have we actually heard anything from the Minister of Public Safety, who is from Saskatchewan? Sadly, no. The safety of women and children fleeing domestic violence must be made a priority by the Minister of Public Safety.
People in my province relied on STC to get them to medical appointments, to work and to school, to run their businesses and to connect them to friends and family in other parts of the province and Canada. People in northern, rural and remote areas especially need this safe, affordable mode of transportation. Surely, there is a role for the federal government's leadership and real investment when such a serious gap exists.
Public TransportationAdjournment Proceedings
Marco Mendicino Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member that the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Infrastructure are two very prominent advocates for the needs of Saskatchewan when it comes to infrastructure and for all of the other causes she referred to in her question.
Indeed, the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of high-quality, safe, accessible and reliable public transit. That is why we have invested over $180 billion in our investing in Canada plan. Public transit brings communities together and provides residents with better access to services, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
We worked in close collaboration with the provinces and territories to develop and implement our plan.
We understand that transit plays an important role in the lives of Canadians. That is why we are making unprecedented investments of more than $28 billion to support public transit across the country.
In Saskatchewan, communities are using federal funding to finance the projects that best meet their needs.
Our funding under phase one of the plan has helped support projects like the renewal of Saskatoon's vehicle fleet, the replacement of 17 buses and nine para-transit buses in Regina and upgrades to the public transit fleet in Prince Albert. Moose Jaw and Saskatoon have used funding to improve their own systems and address their most pressing transit needs.
As well, it is important to note that the decision to terminate the services referred to by my hon. colleague across the way provided by the STC was made by the Province of Saskatchewan. The STC is a provincially run service. It is up to the provinces to decide how best to provide public transit services to their communities within their jurisdictions.
The Government of Canada and the Province of Saskatchewan worked closely to finalize and sign the integrated bilateral agreement on October 17, 2018. This is something we should celebrate. The agreement will provide long-term infrastructure funding for public transit under the next phase of our plan.
Saskatchewan and its communities can also pursue public transit projects through the Canada Infrastructure Bank. The bank was established to help provide even more infrastructure, and with $5 billion set aside for public transit, is currently open to receiving proposals and engaging with stakeholders.
The Government of Canada has made historic investments in infrastructure for communities big and small.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Government of Saskatchewan and all of our provincial partners to make strategic and formative investments that will build 21st century tools.
Sheri Benson NDP Saskatoon West, SK
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for outlining all the ways in which the federal government has partnered on public transportation in cities and larger communities in Saskatchewan.
My question was about the fact that there is no inter-city bus service in Saskatchewan anymore and that Greyhound's pulling out reduced that even more. The federal government stated that it does have a role in investing in that. Otherwise, if the provincial government says a city or municipality does not need a provincial bus service and the federal government says it is not its responsibility, we are leaving many people in Saskatchewan high and dry, especially the many who are vulnerable in rural and remote communities.
I am asking for the government to step up and provide that leadership and to give us the details that we did not get from the Minister of Transport at committee last week. I am asking this of the federal government, which can play a role in this area. It is not just a provincial government responsibility.
